Back to School! Pack Lunches Kids and Adults Will Love!

                      

Chicken Salad Wrap



Veggie Skewers with a Yogurt Herb Dip

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Fruit Salad with Mint

“Back to School” As a child these three words struck horror deep into my heart.  I would see the signs pop up in store windows in August and a long shadow of gloom was cast over the rest of the summer.

Decades later as a mother of four I have a slightly different reaction to these signs.  Dare I say there is a twinge of relief? That there is a certain comfort in purchasing a jumbo box of No 2 pencils and the obligatory two pocket folder with the cute kitten on the front.

It really gets interesting when it’s time to buy a new lunch box.  Gone are the days of a PB&J sandwich, juice box and an apple.  The lunch boxes now days are so complicated it’s an intelligence test just to work out how to stack all the mini boxes into the main one.  It does however open up a host of culinary options.

Just as my children gear themselves up to be better than their best for the upcoming school year, every September I pledge to provide better than ever lunches.  At least we all start out on the right foot.

The following are some tried and true favorites that have featured in their lunch boxes over the years, and there have been a lot of years.  Not being a believer in “kid food” these recipes work beautifully for portable adult lunches too.

 

Chicken Wrap

If you prefer you can substitute tuna or tofu instead of chicken.  Slice the wrap in halves, thirds or quarters depending on the age of the child.  A small child can be quite put off by a large helping.

Chicken Wrap Filling.

2 cups of cooked cold chicken, diced.

¼ cup of low fat mayonnaise (you can add more if you need to)

2 tablespoons of dried cranberries

1 gala apple, cored and diced

1 handful of fresh parsley and basil, chopped fine

2 celery sticks, chopped

Salt and pepper

Whole wheat wraps

Mix together the filling ingredients, refrigerate until ready to use.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins can do double, even triple duty as they make a sweet contribution to breakfast, are perfect for a lunch box and make a delicious after school snack. They’re a win, win, win.

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon of baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 ¼ cups of buttermilk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 ½ sticks of butter, melted

1 banana, diced

1 cup of chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 F

Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Microwave the butter until melted, set aside to cool.

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together.

In another bowl mix the wet ingredients together omitting the banana and chocolate chips.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine. 

Toss the chocolate chips in tablespoon of flour.  Add the chocolate chips and diced banana to the batter and gently fold in until combined.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until risen and the tops are just browned.

Skewered Veggies with a Yogurt, Herb Dip.

It’s surprising how keen children are to eat fresh vegetables when accompanied with a delicious dip.  They seem to like the dipping motion. By using non fat Greek yogurt and low fat mayo it’s light on calories but full on flavor.

1 cup of non fat Greek plain yogurt

½ cup of low fat mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of finely chopped basil

1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley

¼ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Combine all the ingredients and check the seasoning.  Refrigerate.

Fruit Salad

Children love bright colors.  This salad is beautiful to look at and delicious to eat, not to mention an easy way for kids to gobble up their fruit. I’ve never met a child who didn’t love this.

1 packet of strawberries, washed and sliced.

1 packet of blueberries, washed

1 banana, cut into chunks

1 cup of pineapple chunks

1 gala apple, diced

1 handful of green grapes, halved

1 nectarine, diced

1 tablespoon of fine sugar

Juice of a lemon

½ cup of water

1 heaped tablespoon of fresh mint (finely chopped)

Prepare the fruit and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle over the sugar, squeeze over the lemon juice, pour over the water and add the mint.  Combine thoroughly and refrigerate.